The country’s imagination was captivated earlier this year when King Richard III was re-buried in at a ceremony in Leicester.

Now a slice of King Richard-fever is to be brought to Barnet when the University of Huddersfield launches the Barnet Battlefield Survey on Saturday, May 9.

“We’re very excited about it all because it will have a great impact on the town of Barnet and the area,“ says Michael Noronha, a trustee at Barnet Museum.

The museum is part of a working group which helped secure funding for the project, along with the university, the Battlefields Trust and the Barnet Society.

Michael says: “The battle itself was an important part of English history. It was a key battle in the Wars of the Roses.“

On Easter Sunday, April 14, 1471, the 18-year-old Richard – then the Duke of Gloucester – commanded a wing of his brother Edward IV’s Yorkist army at the Battle of Barnet.

Although the site of the battle is disputed, the team of battlefield experts, led by Dr Glenn Foard, will attempt to pinpoint its exact location when work begins later this summer.

Already research has uncovered canon balls from around 1470 and it is believed handguns were used for the first time in English warfare at this conflict.

“The latest survey was hampered by the foot and mouth (2001) outbreak and people couldn’t dig up the fields,“ says Michael, who adds the launch will be held at the spring meeting of the Hertfordshire Association for Local History.

And staff at Barnet Museum are planning to involve the local community in the project with a Tea in the Park event in June.

“The Battlefields Trust will give us a bit more detail about what’s going on, so that will be interesting,“ says Michael, who has been involved with the museum for five years.

He says: “I didn’t realise how much local history there is in Barnet – I’m enjoying it a lot.“

The Barnet Battlefield Survey launch, Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall, The Forebury, off Knight Street, Sawbridgeworth, Saturday, May 9, 10.30am. Details: halh.org.uk